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Eric Swanson currently holds the position of Senior Vice President of Practice and Instructional Products at Renaissance Learning. In this capacity, he works with educators, technologists, and researchers to build best-in-class practice products and experiences that improve academic outcomes for students and educators. Working with the Renaissance Next, myON, Accelerated Reader, Lalilo, and Freckle teams, as well as our Math and Literacy product portfolios and new product ventures, Eric ensures the practice and instruction product strategy, roadmaps, and Go- to-Market activities fit within Renaissance and with our customers’ needs.

Storey Sitwala is Senior Director of Product Management at Renaissance. Throughout her career, she has focused on the challenge of how to scale insight-driven best practices for educators. She has spearheaded and developed innovative solutions across education nonprofits, school systems, and within the education technology sector, leveraging her expertise in information science, data visualization, psychology, and user experience design.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. How Renaissance Next streamlines data for teachers
2. The strategy behind Renaissance’s edtech acquisitions
3. Personalization for students, teachers, and leaders
4. Responsible AI use in education
5. Why teacher autonomy stays central in AI design

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:02:04] Eric on Renaissance’s acquisitions journey
[00:09:17] What Renaissance Next is and why it matters
[00:12:42] Designing dashboards for different users
[00:20:21] What beta testing revealed about real teacher needs
[00:23:30] Balancing AI support with teacher control
[00:32:06] Partnering with core curriculum providers
[00:38:05] Renaissance’s AI ethics and governance
[00:46:28] The future: personalization and faster prototyping

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

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• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
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🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

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Join hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they explore the latest developments in education technology, from AI breakthroughs to high-stakes funding rounds and institutional shifts in AI strategy.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:02:45] OpenAI’s $10B Annual Run Rate: ChatGPT drives unprecedented growth
[00:05:12] Anthropic CEO criticizes proposed 10-year ban on state AI regulation
[00:08:04] Google.org Accelerator: New cohort tackling generative AI for good
[00:10:17] News Sites Struggle as Google AI Summarizes Content
[00:13:33] Zuckerberg’s Meta Bets Big: $14B stake in Scale AI and ‘Superintelligence’ team
[00:17:02] Microsoft’s Plan to Rank AI Models by Safety
[00:19:20] Apple Research Paper Questions AI’s Reasoning Power
[00:21:46] Harvard Gets Backing in DEI Lawsuit from Ivies, Alumni
[00:24:09] Education Secretary Suggests Harvard May Regain Federal Grants
[00:26:48] Ohio State Requires AI Fluency Across All Students
[00:30:20] IXL Learning Acquires MyTutor to Expand Global Tutoring Reach
[00:32:55] CodeHS Acquires Tynker to Bolster K-12 CS Content
[00:35:30] Grammarly Secures $1B in Non-Dilutive Funding for M&A

Plus, special guests:

[00:38:12] Rod Danan, Founder of Prentus, on bridging bootcamps to careers with community and coaching
[00:46:10] Lars-Petter Kjos, Co-founder and CPO of We Are Learning, on building generative AI tools for educators to create custom video content at scale

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

Send us a text

Dr. Mike McKenna is the Senior Advisor at Tuck Advisors and also serves as the Chief Academic Officer for one of the largest school districts in Pennsylvania. With deep expertise in curriculum development, special education, and teaching and learning, Mike brings a proven track record of building inclusive, high-impact academic programs. In addition to his work in K-12 education, Mike has extensive experience in higher education and has also served as an advisory board member for multiple edtech startups and non-profits. At Tuck Advisors, Mike applies his diverse expertise to support education-focused M&A.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Why 2025 may be a defining year for EdTech mergers and acquisitions
2. Key trends driving K-12 district purchasing decisions in today’s uncertain funding climate
3. How small AI companies can strategically position themselves for acquisition
4. What districts really need from AI tools—and why usability is everything
5. How Tuck Advisors supports EdTech founders in mapping their growth and exit strategies

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:01:11] Mike McKenna shares his background in education and M&A
[00:03:37] K-12 districts face funding uncertainty and demand for innovation
[00:06:12] Tuck Advisors focuses on long-term client relationships and timing
[00:10:41] EdTech founders weigh bootstrapping vs. M&A for market access
[00:12:33] AI usage in classrooms is rising but remains mostly surface-level
[00:15:24] Integration and workflow impact are key for AI adoption in schools
[00:17:17] Many AI startups are better suited for acquisition than solo growth
[00:20:28] Access to student data is crucial for impactful AI solutions
[00:22:41] School districts seek data convergence and AI-enhanced insights

😎 Stay updated with Edtech Insiders!

• Follow our Podcast on:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
• Sign up for the Edtech Insiders newsletter.
• Follow Edtech Insiders on LinkedIn!

🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is brought to you by Starbridge. Every year, K-12 districts and higher ed institutions spend over half a trillion dollars—but most sales teams miss the signals. Starbridge tracks early signs like board minutes, budget drafts, and strategic plans, then helps you turn them into personalized outreach—fast. Win the deal before it hits the RFP stage. That’s how top edtech teams stay ahead.

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 25 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.